Autumn Beauty

 Baskets of squash in the bottom of the larder.

Stunners in the fridge.

in the Making & Repairing

My Dad is having surgery today, widening a couple of arteries.

An overnight stay, means that my parents, married for 41 years, will be parted, something that has happened only a handful of times in all those years.

I had plans for today, a trip out but staying closer to home, to the phone, being around for my Mum in the end was what my heart needed.

 O slept until 10am after a whirlwind trip to Legoland with Daddy and some friends,

plenty of time to distract myself in the kitchen and tick off some of those plans.

Pumpkins baked yesterday, scooped out and stored, some in the freezer and some in the fridge, ready for today.

Hummus made and pumpkin puree added,delicious.
Black beans soaking in the background, ready for cooking and adding to Quinoa and Black Bean Chilli, a new favourite from the 30 day Vegan program.

Spices, sugar and pumpkin blending in the pan for Pumpkin Spice Syrup.

My kitchen smells like the season.

Whats cooking in your kitchen ?

Updated
Dad's surgery went wonderfully, all well and now home.
Thanks for your lovely wishes.

October - The Plans

Having heard about pinterest for awhile now but not really "getting" it, I finally gave it a look,

http://pinterest.com/

needless to say, it's good, very good.

My boards are growing and I am loving sorting and saving, plans are coming together for baking, making and trips.

Here's our Autumn Must Do board

http://pinterest.com/nocton4/this-autumn-we-will/

( greatly inspired by this lovely post http://carried-family.blogspot.com/2011/09/autumn-colour.html )

 So many wonderful pumpkin recipes flooding blogs and sites, I am determined this year to do more than just scoop out and carve for Halloween, feeding the insides to the chickens.

Top on my list are

http://www.recipegirl.com/2007/06/04/baked-pumpkin-doughnuts/

http://www.simplebites.net/simple-chilled-pumpkin-cheesecake-vlog/

http://naturallyella.com/2010/10/04/2054/

pumpkin hummus, sounds amazing.Would love a pumpkin risotto recipe if anyone has one please.

Socktoberfest is a month long sock knitting project http://www.ravelry.com/groups/socktoberfest

Brilliant timing for me, staring Yule gifts and digging into my large stash of sock yarn.

My aim is to finish off a pair that has been on the needles since July and then getting at least one more pair made.

 I had quite a pumpkin spice thing, going on in Florida this time last year, so was delighted to see this clever lady's post

http://www.homebakedonline.com/2011/09/easy-pumpkin-spice-syrup-for-drinks.html

So I will be reliving those days with my favourite autumn drink and for the time being the sunshine too.

The end of October brings a very special visit, a week in the Isle of Lewis, so very wonderful in its own rite but staying with this gorgeous family

http://www.thebarefootcrofter.com/

makes it a treat beyond measure ( did you see those pigs, oh my ! )

Would love to hear your plans for the month ahead.

Summers still going strong.

 With Summer giving us such an amazing final flourish, it would seem very rude not to have a day at the beach.

 How blessed were we, to be on the sand, under a scorching sun, surrounded by friends, on a week day and incredibly at the very end of September.

 The beach was busy, packed with couples in deck chairs, reading books and newspapers with flasks of tea at their sides and then there was us, a riot of buckets, spades, sandwiches, ice creams, toddler tears and dramas, joined by dogs racing around the sands, knocking over drinks and nearly small people, then horses racing by the shore line, had the children chasing over them, with not a hope of catching up but loving the feel of the breeze in their hair and the freedom of such a vast space.

There was time for kite flying, sand art, animal dancing and wave jumping then quick dashes home for some, to pick up older children, ballet classes and tea times.

We stayed late, watching fishermen setting up their lines, dogs chasing balls across the sand, boats and birds.

It seemed only fair to get every last drop of Summer goodness from the day.

How are you celebrating the sunshine ?

Visiting the Ice Cream Parlour

We sat soaking up the sunshine, watching the leaves falling from the trees, a last minute, unplanned adventure, the best kind.

 I managed some knitting, loving the reflection of the seasons colours in my yarn.

 O played, chasing shadows, riding on the tractors, lifting his face to the sun over and over again.

Then decisions to be made, for me at least, O knew exactly what he wanted.

Always pink, his favourite and for me cinder toffee, a nod to the true season.

Autumn Blessings x

Yarn Along - 4

Autumn mists early this morning, burnt off now by a glorious warm, sun.

After a lovely day with friends yesterday at a local nature reserve, soaking up this Indian Summer, we have plans to enjoy every last drop of it, a trip to the beach tomorrow, would do it justice I feel, picnic, buckets and spades having a final fling with this burst of goodness.

Yarning Along again with Ginny over at http://www.gsheller.com/ , such a lovely blog, full of family life in all its rich tapestries.

So, a book and whats on your needles, well as I have both on the go constantly, this is an easy post.

On the needles first, a much loved pattern from Last minute knitted gifts, hand/wrist warmers in autumn shades.

Am on my second pair, this time round, have plans for them, giving the gift of warm hands, to fight off the coming cold.

Details of pattern and wool used on my Ravelry page here http://www.ravelry.com/projects/nocton4/womens-hand-wrist-warmers-3

I am delighted to finally be reading Wren Bay by Clarice Fox-Hughes of http://storybookwoods.typepad.com/

a blog packed full of delights and now a novel with the same feel, why did I wait so long to get a copy.

Happy Days to all x

Glimpses of Summer

Summer snippets - good food, good days out, good knitting and reading, good times.
Have missed this space, this time to share, connect and discover.
Good to be back.